Köhler’s professional ministry began in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1990. For the next five years, he served in local pastoral ministry. Those first assignments placed him directly within congregational life before his responsibilities gradually expanded into broader areas of church service.

In 1995, he was called to lead Youth Ministries in Rio Grande do Sul. Four years later, he moved to the Northeast Brazil Union, again serving in youth ministry. Youth ministry became a defining part of his career. It gave him sustained contact with local churches while also requiring large-scale planning across regions with different social contexts.

In July 2002, he returned to Rio Grande do Sul to serve as executive secretary of the local conference. The following year brought another transition. He was elected Youth Ministries director for the South American Division, which at the time coordinated the work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church across eight countries. He remained in that position until 2007.

Each of these assignments gave Köhler experience at different levels of the Adventist Church’s organizational structure before he was elected president of the South American Division in 2006, at age 38. Church records identify him as the youngest person to assume the presidency of the division. He remained in this position until 2021, leading the Church’s work in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

The years in South American administration represented the longest administrative period of his ministry to that point. The territory was already one of the largest Adventist regions in the world. It included large metropolitan areas as well as communities separated by significant geographical distances. The Church was growing within societies marked by rapid technological change and increasing secularization in some settings.

Under his administrative leadership, communication became increasingly integrated with evangelistic strategy. His administration oversaw the expansion of Adventist media and the growth of Novo Tempo, the Church’s Portuguese- and Spanish-language media network in the region. This period also included the development of “Impact Hope,” a large-scale annual publishing initiative that mobilized members to distribute books and other mission material throughout South America.

His approach repeatedly connected communication with local church participation. Media was not treated simply as an institutional broadcasting operation. Television and digital communication were increasingly connected with Bible study and local follow-up. By 2019, for example, Novo Tempo had expanded its digital Bible school while the South American Division continued large annual evangelistic plans and activities that involved local congregations across the territory.

Köhler also wrote regularly during these years. In 2019, he authored the daily devotional Nossa Esperança, published in Portuguese and Spanish for readers across South America. The book offered daily reflections focused on Christian hope.

After almost 14 years as president of the South American Division, Köhler moved from regional leadership to worldwide church administration. On April 14, 2021, the General Conference Executive Committee elected him executive secretary of the General Conference, succeeding G. T. Ng. He became one of the three General Conference executive officers of the world Church and the principal officer directing the General Conference Secretariat.

This work placed him directly within the operational structure of a Church present in more than 200 countries and territories. His responsibilities included major administrative processes and the coordination of international service personnel. Secretariat also advises Adventist Mission, the Office of Archives, Statistics and Research, and the Institute of World Mission, and develops and reviews the church working policy and the Church Manual.

This position also expanded his responsibility for mission to a worldwide territory. Statistical reports revealed that Adventist membership continued to grow globally while large parts of the world remained only minimally reached by Christianity or by an Adventist presence. Major cities presented a different set of challenges. Secularized societies would require still another approach.

Out of these challenges emerged Mission Refocus, a major initiative associated with Köhler’s time as General Conference secretary. This initiative sought to redirect greater attention and resources toward areas where the Adventist presence remained limited. It also encouraged church organizations outside those territories to participate directly in international mission instead of viewing mission only as a local responsibility.

Mission Refocus focused attention on the 10/40 Window, major urban centers, and increasingly secular societies. It also addressed the deployment of international missionaries and the allocation of resources toward frontline mission. Köhler repeatedly described the initiative not as an isolated program but as an effort to strengthen a worldwide culture of mission in which church organizations support work beyond their own geographical boundaries.

The subject eventually became more than an administrative responsibility; it also became the focus of his doctoral research.

Köhler pursued a Doctor of Ministry degree at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, while continuing his work in church leadership. After several years of study, he completed the degree in 2026 through the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. His concentration was Leading Growth and Church Multiplication. His doctoral project was titled: Mission Refocus: A Strategic Realignment of the Seventh-day Adventist Worldwide Mission Effort in the Context of the Three Mission Refocus Windows. Andrews University listed him among its Doctor of Ministry graduates during the summer commencement weekend in August 2026.

The graduation carried an additional connection with his current responsibilities. On August 1, during the university’s baccalaureate service at Pioneer Memorial Church, Köhler delivered a sermon entitled The Balance of Christ. The following day, his Doctor of Ministry degree was formally conferred and as part of the university’s commencement program.

Four years earlier, his responsibilities at the General Conference had rapidly expanded. Mission Refocus was being implemented across different world regions, while Secretariat continued to monitor global church membership and missionary deployment. In his reports to the General Conference Executive Committee, Köhler frequently returned to the idea that the Church could not understand mission exclusively within regional boundaries. The increasing movement of people and the growth of large cities required a broader understanding of where mission fields were located.

On July 4, 2025, during the 62nd General Conference Session in St. Louis, Missouri, Köhler was elected president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. He became the first South American to serve as president of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist Church. He succeeded Ted N. C. Wilson, who had served as General Conference president since 2010.

Addressing delegates immediately after the vote, Köhler spoke first about his confidence in God and in the Church. His election also marked a significant geographical shift in the history of Adventist leadership. Since the organization of the General Conference in 1863, no South American had previously held the office.

His first months as president made clear that the priorities developed during his previous responsibilities would continue in a wider framework. Mission remained closely connected with biblical identity. Integration across church organizations became a recurring emphasis. Later, at the 2025 Annual Council in October, he repeatedly used a concise expression to summarize that direction, first stated at the 2025 General Conference Session: “Grounded in the Bible, focused on the mission.”

This statement appears repeatedly in his public messages and reflects two concerns. The Church should remain clearly anchored in its biblical convictions. At the same time, those convictions should move members toward people who have not yet been reached. For Köhler, preserving Adventist identity and advancing mission are not competing objectives.

This same emphasis has also shaped initiatives launched since his election. At the 2025 Annual Council, church leaders introduced OneVoice27, a worldwide evangelistic mobilization centered on proclaiming Jesus through the biblical message of Daniel and Revelation. The initiative seeks to connect local churches with the Church’s global media network while encouraging members to use available communication channels for mission. Köhler has described the effort as an invitation for the worldwide Church to move together rather than as separate regions pursuing unrelated agendas.

Köhler’s relationship with the Bible also has a personal dimension. Over years of international travel, he began collecting Bibles from the countries and regions he visited. Some were gifts. Others reflect languages or cultural contexts connected with the work of the Church. The collection now contains more than 200 Bibles from different parts of the world and is displayed in his office at the General Conference headquarters.

Part of that collection was shared with the wider Church during the 2025 Annual Council. At the closing program, 117 Bibles from different regions and languages were placed on the platform. Köhler explained that the display represented something deeper than travel memorabilia. For a worldwide Church spread across many cultures, he said, the Word of God remains the clearest point of shared identity.

Outside formal meetings and travel, Köhler enjoys walking and follows current affairs closely. He also keeps up with social media and developments in technology, partly because both increasingly shape how people communicate and understand the world around them.

His interest in communication has remained connected with ministry. Digital platforms have become part of the missionary landscape he addresses regularly, particularly as traditional forms of outreach become difficult or insufficient in some parts of the world. In his public appeals, he has increasingly encouraged Adventists to understand their own digital presence as an opportunity to share hope and create meaningful contact with people who may never enter a church building.

Family has been a central part of Köhler’s journey. He has been married to Adriene Marques Köhler since 1992. She is a nurse who has shared his ministry through decades of pastoral work and international responsibilities. She has frequently accompanied him during visits to Adventist communities around the world.

They have two adult children. Their daughter, Mariana, is pursuing a degree in psychology. Their son, Matheus, followed in his father’s and grandfather’s pastoral footsteps and serves as a district pastor in Brazil. He is married to Geovanna, an attorney.

For Köhler, this continuation of ministry within the family also connects his present responsibilities with the environment in which his own story began. He was raised in a pastor’s home. Decades later, his son serves local congregations while Köhler serves the worldwide Church.

His ministry has now taken him through several different settings. It began in local congregations in São Paulo and continued to develop during his years in youth ministry. It later expanded across South America before reaching the worldwide headquarters of the Church. While the geographical scope changed considerably, the central question remained remarkably consistent: How can the Church remain faithful to what it believes while bringing its message to people it has not yet reached? That question continues to shape Köhler’s work as president of the General Conference.

Today he serves a worldwide Adventist movement present in more than 200 countries and territories, carrying responsibilities that require constant contact with regional church leaders and local congregations. His schedule regularly takes him across continents, yet his public communication continues to repeat a simple, but memorable message.

In his own recurring words, the Church must remain “grounded in the Bible, focused on the mission.”